It doesn’t matter that the Detroit Lions have never, ever, ever won a game in Washington, D.C.

The last time they defeated the Redskins on the road was when their home was in Boston back in 1935.

That, my friends, is a long time ago.

And that stretch has nothing to do with this particular group of Lions who could go to 2-1 with a win over the 0-2 Redskins.

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Only Calvin Johnson, long snapper Don Muhlbach and center Dominic Raiola were on the 2007 Lions’ squad who lost 34-3 at Washington on Oct. 7, 2007. They were down 14-3 early in the third and allowed 20 unanswered points. Quarterback Jon Kitna threw a pair of interceptions, fumbled three times and finished with a 34.6 quarterback rating.

Johnson was a rookie who had just one catch for three yards.

Ancient history, right?

It wasn’t a pleasant memory for Johnson who played just in the first half while he was trying to return from a back injury the previous week.

All the coaches and players agree it’s time to turn the page.

“We want to get a win. We want to get a road win against an NFC opponent that was a playoff team last year,’’ coach Jim Schwartz said. “All those things are important. What happened 10 years ago, 20 years ago, everything else it’s irrelevant in a lot of ways.’’

Even though the Redskins are 0-2 and have been outscored 50-7 in the first halves of those games, they are a talented team with comeback in their DNA. Last season they started 3-6, won seven straight and then lost a wild card game.

“I know that the game didn’t finish that way, but (the Redskins) got off to a fast start against Green Bay,’’ Schwartz said. “I think they sacked them three times in the first couple series and were really giving them a hard time. They have some guys that can wreck the game.’’

Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan has three of their seven sacks.

The Lions are expecting the blitz but are prepared for anything Redskins coach Mike Shanahan might throw their way.

“They’re not going to change. They’re going to run their stuff and we got to be the same way. We got to be certainly expecting (the blitz),’’ offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “I’ve gone into games where you’re expecting a lot more blitzes than base defense and you have the opposite, especially early in the game. They kind of change their, maybe, what their tendencies are or their thing. I think you expect it and then you react to the counter punch which could be a zone game plan or some kind of special game plan for Calvin (Johnson), which is what we get every week.’’

Redskins’ quarterback Robert Griffin III, who is coming off anterior cruciate ligament surgery, has only carried the ball nine times so far but that could change too.

“They have some talented offensive players,’’ Schwartz said. “We talked about RGIII. (Running back Alfred) Morris is a strong back. I think he’s got about more yards after contact than anybody in the NFL. He’s hard to knock off his feet. He’s powerful. He’s a perfect fit for their zone stretch.’’

Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said everything scares him about the Redskins’ offense.

“I was telling someone today, one thing about Mike (Shanahan) he is not just a guy,’’ Cunningham said of the Redskins’ coach. “He is really just a bright, bright man. ... I’ve probably coached against him more than any other coach in the league and we have to be ready. They are under pressure. They have lost two games so we better be ready when we walk out there. They will have all of it going.’’

In other words the Lions will not take the Redskins lightly even if they have struggled in the first two weeks.

“It’s the NFL, we don’t look at the stats right now, two games in, those stats are a mirage,’’ Linehan said. “You look at that at the end of the year, you look at the record at the end of the year. They are very capable.’’

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